Just Two Friends
by DefiGraviti
Summary: Some thoughts on the friendship between Elphaba and Glinda, exploring just how close they were. They knew each other better than anyone.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Wow, this is my first full- length fic in a long time. I'm planning on making it a two-parter, the second chapter being from Elphaba's point of view, so stay tuned.**

**Disclaimer: Glinda and Elphaba and the rest of the Wicked characters all belong to Gregory Maguire, Stephen Schwartz, and Winnie Holzman. But I can still borrow them to play with them every once in awhile.**

Glinda knew Elphaba better than anyone.

She knew that Elphaba wasn't a morning person _or_ a night person. She was a middle of the day type of person. This wasn't even just a cheap excuse to avoid classifying her, she really _was_ equally out of it on both sides of the spectrum.

Glinda also knew that they way to tell how tired Elphaba was was by measuring how much she was talking. Generally, Elphaba would challenge or debate just about everything that anyone said. And on the odd chance that she _did_ agree with something, she would discuss it until your ears bled. As Fiyero once put it, she never let anyone else talk.

But when she was tired, she got quiet. She even got rather passive if you wanted to go so far as to actually say that. She nodded or shook her head in response to questions, or even shrugged when she just didn't feel like thinking about the answer. This was actually rather irritating to Glinda, since drowsiness only served to make her even _more_ bubbly and talkative. But Glinda knew that Elphaba hated to feel tired because it essentially left her defenseless. Elphaba needed to have her guard up at all times; or at least, that's how _she_ felt. And Glinda felt honored to be the one person that Elphaba would allow to see her with her strongest defense weakened like that.

Glinda knew that Elphaba didn't feel the need to proclaim her feelings to the world. This is a fact that Glinda both admired and loathed about her. The first because it was so different from herself who cried at the drop of a hat and exaggerated her every emotion, and the second because it was just so difficult to figure out what Elphaba was feeling most of the time. It frustrated Glinda because she was made to feel like a hopelessly weak drama queen every time something bad would happen because Elphaba would remain stoic as she comforted her sobbing friend. Sometimes Glinda just wished that her best friend would feel comfortable frying in front of her, or showing any emotion in front of her for that matter.

But the longer Glinda knew her, the more she came to realize that it wasn't so much that Elphaba _didn't_ show feelings, but that she showed them in smaller and less obvious ways. Glinda learned to recognize the way a small crease would form in the green skin between her blue eyes and how she would unconsciously chew on her bottom lip when she was worried or stressed. Glinda learned that Elphaba would become brisk and painfully efficient when she was sad, but that you would see eyes wide with unshed tears that blinked much more than usual if you bothered to take a closer look. Glinda always made a point to stay away from their room at times when Elphaba was like this, because she knew that she liked to cry alone. Glinda came to notice the way a small and barely perceptible smile would play at Elphaba's lips when she was particularly pleased about something and the way she would tap or jiggle her foot. This actually gave her an air of impatience to most people, but Glinda could read her like a book. Even Fiyero didn't understand Elphie quite like she did, and she loved the incredulous looks he gave them when Glinda would ask the seemingly impatient Elphaba what she was so happy about and would receive a brightly affirmative response.

Glinda knew that Elphaba's bravery was not just a front, but that there were a couple things that _did_ scare her. Water, for instance, could bring a look of terror to Elphaba's face that made _Glinda's_ heart freeze over. She remembered the time she had tried to get Elphaba to take a boat ride with her, just for fun. The fear in her eyes still haunted Glinda, especially with the knowledge that _she_ had put it there. She remembered the the way that Elphaba had whimpered and had actually allowed Glinda to wrap a supporting arm around her shoulders as they walked away. The completely un-Elphaba-like behavior scared Glinda more than she liked to admit. Which is why she never teased her friend about her equally irrational fear of small spaces. They always had to have their dorm window open, even in the coldest of weather. And Glinda had to train herself to leave their bathroom door open when it wasn't in use. This fear is why Glinda figured the sky held such appeal for her friend.

But Glinda knew also knew that Elphaba had other, less obvious fears. Fear of rejection. Fear of failure. Fear of losing those she loved. Fear of finding that they never really loved her to begin with. And this is why Glinda felt as if she could never do anything worse than when she had refused to join Elphaba on her escape from the Wizard, because she knew she had just made every single of those unspoken fears come true.

Glinda knew that Elphaba's favorite class wasn't her sorcery seminar as most would suspect, but was indeed history. She knew that Elphaba had an amazing voice, but would only sing when she thought that nobody could hear her. She knew that Elphaba didn't like chocolate, but that her favorite candy was peppermint. Glinda knew that Elphaba desperately wanted to fit in, but didn't think that it was even worth trying. She knew that Elphaba's favorite color was sky blue, but felt that she could never make it work with her green skin. She knew that Elphaba loved to write, and that she would write in her journal when what she really needed to do was talk. Glinda even knew how to _get_ her to talk when the little blue notebook would appear. Glinda even knew that Elphaba was in love with _her _boyfriend, not that she would ever say so.

Glinda knew Elphaba better than anyone; but even more than that, she _understood _her. She could take one look at her face and know immediately how she was feeling. She may not share it, but she understood Elphie's motivation for the things she did and the things she wanted. They got so close in their final year of school together that on occasion they would even have silent conversations, much to the annoyance of Fiyero. And above all the things she knew about her, she cherished the knowledge that Elphaba considered her to be just as much her best friend as she did Elphaba.

That is, until the night when Elphaba threw it all away and ran away from everything she knew and loved for a lifetime of exile. After that, Glinda didn't feel that she knew Elphaba at all.

**A/N: I won't write the second part to this story if it appears that nobody really wants it, so review! And check out the page I share with oboefae, BarbosaTheGreenDucky, where we are currently taking on the Wicked100 challenge!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I'm **_**so **_**sorry that it's taken me this long to get this out. I've been working on it for months, no kidding. It was just extremely difficult. You see, I ultimately based the first part on one of my best friends, so that would lead me to obviously basing the second part on myself. Easier said than done. I apparently don't know myself very well. So I kept my ears open for things my friends would candidly say about me and I kept my eyes open for small observations of other people that I could sneak in, and here is your finished product. Not quite autobiographical, but you can certainly get to know me a bit better by reading it.**

Elphaba knew Glinda better than anyone.

Elphaba knew that Glinda was definitely a night person. Trying to talk to Glinda before noon was never a good idea, because whether she talked your ear off about something completely pointless (like lettuce, for example) or she _bit _your ear off for even attempting to make her communicate that early, your ear was going to suffer. Elphaba knew that Glinda really wasn't kidding when she said that she couldn't focus as well when the sun was up. She had _seen_ her friend try to study by daylight, and it wasn't pretty. She got distracted easily by shiny things hanging on her wall and just wanted to talk. So she tended to not even try to do her homework until sunset. So while Elphaba would be hitting the books right after classes, Glinda would be going out with Fiyero, or painting her nails, or picking out her outfit for the next day. But then she would finally sit down at her desk at six or seven at night and keep the candle burning well into the morning hours. This made her terribly grumpy when it came time to wake up in the morning.

Elphaba got the brunt of this since it was she who had to wake Glinda up every morning for classes. Glinda seemed to think that the sole purpose of alarm clocks was to have something to punch in the morning, and this included her green alarm clock named Elphaba. Elphaba had several bruises because of this. But Elphaba also knew Glinda's greatest weakness: tickling. One poke to her stomach and she'd be up before you could say 'Wonderful Wizard of Oz.' Well, you could accomplish just about anything in the time it would take to say that title, but let's just ignore that little tidbit.

Elphaba knew that Glinda could do anything if she put her mind to it. This is a common, everyday statement that is used so much that it's almost cliché; but for Glinda, it was really true. Elphaba hated how everyone always called Glinda an airhead behind her back, because she knew that that was far from true. She came to learn that the reason that Glinda avoided dedicating herself to most things is that she was afraid to give her heart out. Because when Glinda decided she wanted to do something, she _really_ did it. She threw her entire heart into it. She wasn't capable of doing anything half way.

This was a good thing when she wanted to accomplish something. Once she decided to turn herself around scholastically, she started challenging even Elphaba. Her marks skyrocketed and teachers started wondering if they were teaching the same girl or not. She wanted to be a better student, so she became a star pupil.

But this could be a bad thing to, because this whole thing included her friendships too. When she became close to someone she gave her entire heart to them, and this left her extremely susceptible to being hurt. Any one of the people she was close to had the complete ability to break her heart, which is why she kept it carefully guarded. She kept herself distanced from most people and developed only surface relationships. Pfannee, Shenshen, and Milla never even came close to burgeoning that wall. Even Fiyero was never allowed to climb it. He didn't really know her and she didn't really love him. In fact, Elphaba was very well aware that she was one of the first people that was allowed past that barrier, and she understood why it took Glinda so long to let her in. And Elphaba knew that even now, it scared Glinda to let her that close.

Elphaba knew that Glinda's way of handling things was very different from her own. While Elphaba preferred to hold in her feelings and deal with them when she was alone, she understood that Glinda couldn't help but express whatever she was feeling right then and there. She knew that Glinda hated being like this because it made her feel like a weepy mess most of the time, but she encouraged her to remain this way because she knew that once Glinda got all of those feelings out, she was okay. She got rid of them once and for all and was able to move on. That's why people saw her as being so happy all of the time: she had no baggage that she carried around.

Elphaba knew that Glinda was like this with everything. When she was happy, she smiled. When she thought something was funny, she laughed. When she was sad, she cried. When she was angry, she yelled. It wasn't terribly hard to figure out how Glinda was feeling at any given point in time. In fact, when she was feeling down it made Glinda feel better when people inquired what was making her feel that way. This didn't necessarily mean that she told them though. In fact, she only tended to discuss these things with Elphaba. Elphaba loved being the special chosen one that Glinda poured her heart out to, but also generally tended to wish that Glinda would find other people to share the burden. It was hard to get any work done when Glinda wasn't happy. Because when Glinda wasn't happy, _nobody_ was happy.

Elphaba knew that despite her obvious love for the color pink, she was also rather fond of purple. She knew that when Glinda was tired or scared or upset or otherwise feeling un-Glinda like, her sky blue eyes got darker. Stormy, even. Elphaba also knew that when Glinda's eyes became that dark navy blue, it was time for immediate intervention on her part. She kept a few ready-made pep talks on hand for those occasions. She knew that her favorite candy was white chocolate and that she really was more comfortable lounging in sweats when they were alone in their room. Elphaba even knew that Glinda was constantly trying to lift her own self-esteem. She was well aware that her friend wasn't terribly proud of the fact that she wasn't confident enough to step outside without make-up or without changing out of her sweats. But Elphaba kept a ready-made pep talk for that, too. Elphaba knew that sometimes, Glinda just needed to talk and that it was better just to shut up and listen, even if she went on for several hours. Elphaba even knew that Glinda loved to read, as much as she would be ashamed to admit it in public. In fact, her favorite subject was Ozian Literature. And Elphaba knew that she was afraid to take risks, which is why Elphaba figured that she ultimately didn't join her on her escape from the Wizard.

Elphaba knew Glinda better than anyone. She cherished the friendship that they forged at Shiz and loved the silent communication they developed. She loved having Fiyero around (for obvious reasons), but _he_ was ultimately the third wheel. He didn't know them like they knew each other nor did he understand them. And she loved feeling like she wasn't being judged in the least when it was just the two of them and she loved even more that Glinda felt the same way. And above all the things she knew about her, she cherished the knowledge that Glinda considered her to be just as much her best friend as she did Glinda.

That is, until the night when Glinda refused to come with her and fulfil the dreams they had laid awake many nights discussing to instead work for the man they both knew was a traitor. After that, Elphaba didn't feel that she knew Glinda at all.

**A/N: Review! They might put me in a better mood after the mediocre performance we put on at Regionals this weekend.**


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